Good distortion

[brinton]

what are some good ol' distortion tricks that are cheap.

Here are my problems:

1) I have a VOX 30w valvtronix and find the distortion amps to be ok, and I don't dig my deville because it sounds cheezy and just weird in break-up and the initial attack isn't picky or fast like I like it, it's really fizzy and "fart-like".
I guess I want something with lots of sensitivity and really tweakable.

2) What disappoints me is that I recently bought (christmas gift to self) a Fulltone ultimate octave pedal- http://fulltone.com/UO.asp
The thing I don't like the most here is that the two distortions cut way differently: the fuzz is totally got the dark harmonic muffy thing (like big muff) when it's on "FAT" setting, when I kick on the octave up it's freakin sawing my ears off, so much more brighter and present. I love the tones beck and hendrix got with their octavia's but this pedal sounds a little too "toys 'r us-ish".
I like the fuzz when it's on "Bright" but then the octave up sounds like a mosquito choir.

3) I don't have $ for a high-gain head and cab. I don't like the POD.
I guess I could try other distortion pedals but I really like the "Amp" sound.

Any suggestions people. Maybe I'll try fulltone's distortion pro, but I'm really disappointed with this "ultimate-octave" you could only use one sound at a time without tweaking.

 

[brinton]

Re: Good distortion

I like some of satch's saturated stuff, like "flying in a blue dream"
I like some compression too, it really helps get your picking sound through and seperate notes and keep things "un-fizzed" something more modern-american rather than a JCM 800.

Also one of the coolest things to do is put your wah to the floor and roll the tone down with massive amounts of gain, and you've got modern hendrix tone that's more metal-ish and less fuzzy sounding.

 

[brinton]

Re: Good distortion

going to sleep now as it's nearing 1:30 am, and I'm baby-sitting my friend's dogs, and dogs get up early to pee and don't go back to sleep. Grrrrrrr......Night!

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Good distortion

It all depends just how much gain you need. For most distortion, I'd recommend the ToneBone Classic. For high gain, ToneBone Hot British. They are simply two of the very best pedals around, no hype.

 

[TheLizardKing]

Re: Good distortion

Hey have you looked into Laney amps, I know there are some clips in the tips and clips section from a playa check it out, they run about $200 and have more than enough gain.

 

[brinton]

Re: Good distortion

bump, anyone got any other suggestions.

 

[TheArchitect]

Re: Good distortion

If you like Satriani then you need to get yourself a BOSS DS-1. He used that pedal into a clean/semi clean marshall for his sound until he came out with the JSX. It works and they are so cheap having 1-2 should be mandatory.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Good distortion

Grab yourself a Boss SOD, DS1, or Ibanez TS (the new cheap one or a Soundtank if you can find one), and let SD97 here modify it, and use it to goose your Deville or the Vox.

The DS1 and SOD go for under 50 bucks new. Don't know what SD charges for his mods, but I can't imagine it's outrageous.

But...if you want tweakable and realy sensitive, IMO a full set of tubes are the only way to go. Have you looked into getting your Fender modded? Check out Voodoo.

And not to Spam, but I've gotta let my 50 watt Marshall reissue go for..I'm not looking to make a killing..just need to get rid of it...PM for details if ya wish.